Newton, The Puzzle, Napa Valley

A nostalgic purchase from a label I used to love in the early 2000s. Not my usual style these days, but dark, complex and interesting.

2002 vintage

Amazing how bottle has hung in there. It is mature so drink up but still well balanced.

2010 vintage

Amazing QPR

2008 vintage

Similar to last time but riper. Complex. Dominated by dark fruit, very silky finish.

2002 vintage

A big, dense blend. Double decanted but otherwise let slow ox for 2 hours in the bottle. Fragrant, spicey fruit. Lively but perhaps a bit heavy finish.

2010 vintage

Disclaimer... I'm not a Napa CS fan, even though this is a CS dominant BDX from Napa. Don't even ask me how I arrived at a couple of bottles. My wife is even more anti, so when I blinded her, and she said she liked it, we were both very impressed. The other note from IssacJamesBaker hits the high points of this juice. It has nice balance among dark fruit, vegetation, tobacco, pencil and earth. Enough acid to carry the …

2017 vintage

Decanted for sediment. Delicious cassis and blackberry flavor with chocolate and toasty oak. The only issue with the wine is it is drinking on the soft side at this point and missing a bit of acidity and tannin for a wine of this caliber. I would be drinking up if holding any.

2010 vintage

Really delicious wine in a great spot of drinkability. Showing primary fruit but loads of graphite and pencil lead but also wet tobacco and cigar box.

2010 vintage

Definitely drinking at age, needed some pump to blow off. I’m amazed how much this wine has aged in just a few years.

2010 vintage

Damn! My last bottle. What a QPR! I know I’m partial to Spring mountain fruit, this is grown lower down the mountain so this one shows more purple 42% merlot and 36% CS with 14% CF and 6% PV and 2% Malbec, this is a big Bordeaux blend that’s juicy and tasty with maturity to show so many flavor profiles at once. Why did I stop buying this wine?

2008 vintage

still going strong

2010 vintage

Really in my wheelhouse here for a Napa cab. Great balance with purple fruit l, forest floor, cigar box and black soil all coming together. Beautiful.

2008 vintage

Drinking wonderfully. Pop and pour.

2008 vintage

Deep dark color, complex nose. Wonderful, still youthful wine with a deep dark berry nose: black currents, black cherries, vanilla, a bit cacao. Full bodied, but elegant. Long and smooth finish with silky tannins. A lot of years ahead.

2002 vintage

May 14, 2002, we met at a Tigers game. May 14, 2022, we cracked this 20 YO beauty and went to the Tigers game. Think Kenny Rogers "20 Years Ago" song. Cept, this is a happy story, not one of sadness and longing, but of wine and best friends for decades! There's a depth in well made wine which shows itself over significant time. We believe it simply cannot be manufactured. Just rack it well, over a decade, and let …

2002 vintage

Really nice. Lots of life left in this one. Hints of eucalyptus and cedar

2002 vintage

Fabulous Bordeaux Blend.

2010 vintage

Bright purple color. Compact, needs time, but it opens to show tart black currants and plum sauce, along with scorched earth, graphite, coffee grounds and vanilla. Rich and deep on the palate, solid grip, concentrated and deep but it shows lively acidity, too. Tart currants and blackberries blend well with lush tones of coffee, dark chocolate, pencil shavings, some dried coconut, too. Deep and juicy, but vibrant, too, and it shows more leather and anise tones with air. Hold for …

2017 vintage

Drinking very nicely glan we have more

2010 vintage

Drinking surprisingly young. Still surfeit with black fruit, touch if earthiness and a persistent finish. Tannin is round. This should age effortlessly for years to come.

2002 vintage

Drinking really nicely here. It works as a PnP but the tannins integrate and develop better with 30 minutes in the glass. This is dark purple fruit, and a lovely underlying mineral background which is per dominated by graphite and wet stone

2010 vintage

Nice wine that works as a PnP but benefits from airtime. Good QPR. fruit tilts a little to the purple side on opening but with airtime tilts a little to red. Secondary nuances show up however, so some cigar box graphite and dry leaves.

2010 vintage

Drinking beautifully here. Big round purple fruit with some dark blackish fruit and wonderfully slathered wet stone and slight forest floor. I don’t see age benefiting tbks wine, but it depends upon taste

2008 vintage

Powerhouse Bordeaux blend. Packing a ton of fruit up front and excellent structure mod palate thru the finish. Popped and poured. Next bottle will get a short decant to see what happens.

2010 vintage

Thick mountain fruit is abundant here, but it's not overdone. Hints of leather and smoked meat. Gobs of blackberry, cassis and black cherry. Tannins are mellowing out nicely. Beautiful now and probably for the next 5+ years.

2010 vintage

Dark purple color. Textbook Napa cab nose of blackberry, cassis, menthol, toasty oak, vanilla. Similar flavors on the palate with ripe black fruits, a bit of chocolate and spicy oak notes. Medium+ acid and sweet tannins. Smooth mouthfeel and long finish. Lots of structure in this wine so plenty of room to grow. Paired great with a fatty grilled ribeye.

2010 vintage

Nice wine now with some age. Still needed decanting (what dimwit CT pundits said the end of the drinking window on this wine was 2017???). I will say that I've been a long time fan of the Puzzle. It was one of the first wines i collected. This wine is showing little secondary nuances although the tannins are maturing nicely, big fruit sits there and is multi-faceted, although I don't find the integration to be complete on the early palate. …

2008 vintage

Big and juicy but not a bomb. The Cab Franc really shines through, in a good way. Medium body with nicely grippy tannins. Good as a pnp but better with a couple of hours of air.

2002 vintage

Closed nose. On the palate, it was mostly plums, but they were overshadowed by the tannins. Fairly rich. Long finish, but it was dominated by the tannins. After dinner, I left a glass of the Puzzle on the kitchen counter. Three hours later, it hadn't changed (still closed). Another two or three years should help, but not if the fruit fades much more.

2002 vintage

Excellent full bodied and excellent mouth feel

2010 vintage

Good wine. Drinking very round with dark fruit and soft tannins and secondary nuances. More mature than the 2007 we had a week ago.

2008 vintage

No detailed notes. Didn't find this particularly memorable one way or the other. Not bad, quaffable, but no "wow" here. Appropriately named as the "Puzzle", because it was hard to figure out. Might be better as a wine-geek talker / blind-tasting.

2002 vintage

Very nice...soft tannins...nice fruit...good body...not overly structured or complex but still nice.

2008 vintage

Had after a Caymus 2012 40th Anniversary edition. Not as chewy as the Caymus, but more complex. Still had tons of fruit, smooth and soft. Love this wine.

2008 vintage

Beautiful claret that has plenty of life ahead. Merlot shows through with its red fruit and spiciness. Silky wine that has lots of structure to it. Decanted two hours but still a bit too tense for my taste. Lively in the mouth and reasonably long finish. Nice nose. Mocha notes on finish.

2008 vintage

My last of 6. This was a delicious wine. Still going strong.

2002 vintage

Corked - bummer

2008 vintage

Very dry in the finish and still looks of tannins on the mid palate and finish. Cab Sauv very dominant on the palate.

2002 vintage

very slight taint--still enjoyed it

2008 vintage

Excellent wine. Complex

2010 vintage

Great tasting wine.. very well balanced. Wish I had more!

2008 vintage

Agree with Sonnychiba notes. Supple. Lots of tobacco in a complex wine.

2008 vintage

well rounded, but seems fruit was lacking

2008 vintage

This was a fantastic blend, I wish I had more could have aged for a few more years still somewhat tannic.

2002 vintage

Quite unexpectedly old world. The cab Sauvignon and petit Verdot seems more in the driver seat based on today performance. A parting note of sweetness reminded us we are still in Napa. It's still fairly tannic and not ready for at least another 5 years.

2002 vintage

Drinking beautifully. A balance of maturity and youth.

2002 vintage

This is a great wine but it needs some time to breathe to develop. It is a little tight and angular out of the bottle (even though it had two hours open). After a couple more hours this wine was young and bright but with a brooding adolescent begging for attention from across the room without saying a word. Definitely will sit down for another decade. I have a case so interested to see how this one develops.

2008 vintage

perfekt für meinen Preis :) ! Tolle Struktur und Länge, dunkelbeerig

2002 vintage

Still very tannic

2002 vintage

Decanted 3 hours. Well done, very enjoyable Bordeaux blend. Dark color. Fruity nose that you can smell from across the room. Blackberries and black fruit mixed in with some layers of charcoal, tobacco, cherries, black licorice and bit of plum. Nice strong finish, not too much heat coming through. Could easily be cellared for years to come, but nice right now. A bit more complexity and balance than I remember in the 07'. Got it for around $60, and probably …

2008 vintage

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Newton, The Puzzle, Napa Valley

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